Unhealthy Friendships, 2

Part two about unhealthy friendships.....
Brain injury or not, making friends has not necessarily come easy for me. I've had my share of ups and downs which is motivated to write this specific blog post. For anyone who has been in that position, my hope is to share what I have learned, let you know that you are not alone, and to perhaps benefit someone else. Your feedback/experiences are welcome as well!

As in the last blog post, there's red flag for friendship, but also a resolution!
Red Flag: Constant compliments, affirmation
It is no secret to those who know me that I am sucker for sentimentality-I save cards, replay conversations in my head, reread e-mails, etc. And that's OK! However, there can be too much of a good thing...... As previously mentioned, there have been friends who have not treated me well. They would expect me to do things with them on their timetable, show up late when we had made plans, occassionally criticized for miniscule things.

And I let them treat me like that. Why? Because mistreatment was usually followed by a string of compliments. I really liked hearing all these good things about myself (who doesn't?), and so even though I deserved better, the compliments made me like putty, and all was forgotten.

Resolution: Recognize that you deserve better
I can't speak for everyone, obviously, only myself. But I have learned that no matter how much I feel/think I NEED that person to be my friend, and as scary as it may be to let the friendship go (will another friend come along???) being used, criticized, etc. simply isn't worth it. And I found as I believed that about myself, that I deserved better, the easier it was to attract those who would be a good friend to me. Not easy, but doable!!!

Questions??? Comments???